American Prestige Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison

Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Maria Repnikova, associate professor in global communication at Georgia State University, to talk about China’s use of so-called “soft power”. They explore the origin of the phrase and what Maria means by it, Confucius Institutes, public diplomacy, Chinese efforts to build a global media network, how the US frames these initiatives, and what kind of image China might be trying to project.
Be sure to pick up a copy of Maria’s book of the same name.


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Danny and Derek welcome back to the podcast Benjamin Fogel, head of publishing at the Alameda Institute and contributing editor to Jacobin, to talk about the May 29 general election in South Africa wherein the African National Congress (ANC) lost its 30-year majority.
Alameda is a research institute that connects with social movements to understand how…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.com

Danny and Derek once again speak with Bryan Pitts, assistant director of the Latin American Institute at UCLA, this time to conclude our series on the history of Brazil. We’re now in the post-dictatorship era, with the group delving into the 1988 constitution, the economic and political situation of the 1990s, Lula da Silva’s political rise, he and the …

In light of recent health news about Noam Chomsky, we wanted to re-release Danny and Derek’s discussion with him from 2022.
Danny and Derek sit down with linguist and antiwar critic Noam Chomsky to discuss his biography and a bunch of other subjects, from the responsibility of intellectuals to the antiwar movement to what to do in  our present situation. And Chomsky disagrees with Danny. This is the second of two parts.
Check out the first part here.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

In light of recent health news about Noam Chomsky, we wanted to re-release Danny and Derek’s discussion with him from 2022.
Danny and Derek sit down with linguist and antiwar critic Noam Chomsky to discuss his biography and a bunch of other subjects, from the responsibility of intellectuals to the antiwar movement to what to do in our present situation. This is the first of two parts. 
Check out the second part here.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.com

Derek welcomes back to the program Ashoka Mody, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, to talk about this week’s election in India. They discuss the issues facing voters, Modi’s presidential victory, his Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) surprise loss of i…